General Gaming Shenmue III - Information Thread, update: reviews from OpenCritic posted

[Keyser_Soze]

Glad to see it still has bad voice acting.

[Xbob42]

It looks soooooo bad. No human should subject themselves to this kind of mess.

 

 

 

 

...expect my 3 page coverage of the first hour on launch night!

[Keyser_Soze]

12 minutes ago, Xbob42 said:

It looks soooooo bad. No human should subject themselves to this kind of mess.

 

 

 

 

...expect my 3 page coverage of the first hour on launch night!

 

At least it's on EGS so when you hate it you'll forget about playing it because it's on EGS.

[Xbob42]

42 minutes ago, Keyser_Soze said:

 

At least it's on EGS so when you hate it you'll forget about playing it because it's on EGS.

Yeah it's weird how Epic decided to give this game out for free. Bizarre choice to revitalize the torrent industry but who am I to judge?

[Keyser_Soze]

Looks like some people are already getting their copies, mom and pop stores breaking street dates and whatnot 

[eventide11]

20 hours ago, Biggie said:

It is on this weekend. Georgia vs. Auburn 

Georgia gonna taste that L! 

[Biggie]

On 11/14/2019 at 3:56 PM, eventide11 said:

Georgia gonna taste that L! 

Almost!!!! Damn that was a good game. SEC championship game here we come!

[Keyser_Soze]

 

[Greatoneshere]

When does this release on Epic Games Store? Midnight EST or PST in just 15 minutes on the 19th? Caught up on my entire backlog (Asura's Wrath, Legacy of Kain: Blood Omen, Control, Child of Light, and Disco Elysium all wrapped up), otherwise just playing Death Stranding on console+TV and will play this on desktop PC. Very excited, been waiting since the Xbox Original release of Shenmue II in the US for this follow up! Huge fan of the first two games. 

 

Edit: Nevermind, it apparently opens/drops at 8am EST on Epic Games Store. PS4 backers are getting a midnight release. I can wait. 

[maddux4163]

Been waiting on this since I was but a 14 year old in 2000, playing the original on my Dreamcast. I have played and own the 2nd on my Xbox. Never REALLY dug into it. I own the HD collection on PS4 and want to go back and see how they hold up today. Glad this is finally being released 

[noey jerd]

Played it. It is horrible. My God this should have stayed in the pits of hell!

[Greatoneshere]

So, first impressions. I'm an hour or so in and I think Shenmue III (like Death Stranding, but for very different reasons) requires some caveats for those who are thinking about playing it. First, I am a big Shenmue I and II fan, so know that going in. Yes they're old games and were divisive even when they came out (and the dub was uniformly awful), but something about it's old-school feel and earnestness as well as really making you feel like you were transported back into a 1980's Hong Kong martial arts revenge film (with all the cliches and stereotypes and stiltedness all of that entails). It's endearing. I've waited a long time (18 years!) for a follow up given the excruciating cliffhanger and implications of the end of Shenmue II so I've had to keep my expectations in check.

 

With all that being said, you have to go in knowing the game is intentionally stilted, oftentimes goofy, but always very earnest and authentic. The game isn't some triple AAA blockbuster and so this isn't some open world game at the level of Yakuza 6 or Horizon Zero Dawn. It is, boiled down, a very well funded indie open world Kickstarted game. It was funded by 70,000 individual backers who provided $6.3 million dollars to create the game (with some help from Sony and publisher Deep Silver). Go in knowing it is an INDIE open world game and all that that entails, limitations and all. Regardless, the game is quite pretty despite it's strange graphical aesthetic and once you click into it's weirdness I'm fairly impressed given the game's origins (I'm playing on PC).

 

Shenmue has always been super idiosyncratic and Shenmue III is impressively old school. It feels exactly as if Shenmue III came out right after Shenmue II in 2003, just with much better graphics and polish. Yes, that can be good and bad. Yu Suzuki has somehow made us literally go back in time - the sound effect dings, the journal, the way characters speak, the camera cuts during dialogue sequences - this is a Shenmue game intentionally made anachronistic to please hardcore Shenmue fans almost at the expense of everyone else. New gamers, especially younger gamers with no attachment to the franchise, will find this game bizarrely bad. Older gamers used to a lot more slick and polish and quality of life game improvements since Shenmue II came out will be sorely disappointed as this game is a game very much intentionally out of time. And for gamers who played and didn't "get" or like Shenmue I or II, you probably won't like this one either. I really mean that in the best of ways though - it increases it's charm and 1980's feel with the game being and feeling somewhat antiquated. Haven't done a lot of fighting yet gameplay-wise, but as always the depth of the fighting system is pretty good given this is from the guy who made the good Virtua Fighter games.

 

TL;DR: most will hate it, but diehard Shenmue fans who understood why the original two games were so absorbing and charming will be right at home with Shenmue III, so long as they go in this knowing this is Shenmue as if it's almost not changed at all, sound effects and everything, except for controller and graphical improvements, etc. Does that make it a good game? I have no idea, but I am trying to meet it at its level, and in that capacity it's been quite a nostalgia trip, from the music to the button prompts and I am enjoying myself. The game is both entirely third person and first person, which is impressive, and it has all the Shenmue-isms like being able to open every drawer, etc. It'll be nice to play especially for an hour or so late at night kind of game. The music, unlike most of the rest of the game, is genuinely great and not antiquated in that way at all, and really helps sell the game.

 

IMPORTANT NOTE: Play this in Japanese - it will help enormously with dialing down the feeling of stiltedness of the dialogue (and the game in general) and further help with immersion as this is a very Japanese/Chinese culture focused game. DO NOT PLAY IT IN ENGLISH. It's still stilted, but better.

[noey jerd]

It's been years. 3 should not feel exactly like 1 and 2. I forgave all the shortcomings on the dreamcast games because it was just the year it was made in but it is 2019 now, I can't forgive lazy/clunky game play. If this came out in 2003, fine, but not by today's standards. I've played other indie games that blow this out of the water and I can't help but to think "Where the hell did all that kickstarter/sony money go."

[Greatoneshere]

17 minutes ago, noey jerd said:

It's been years. 3 should not feel exactly like 1 and 2. I forgave all the shortcomings on the dreamcast games because it was just the year it was made in but it is 2019 now, I can't forgive lazy/clunky game play. If this came out in 2003, fine, but not by today's standards. I've played other indie games that blow this out of the water and I can't help but to think "Where the hell did all that kickstarter/sony money go."

 

I'm just saying it's all clearly intentional. I've played "better" indie games too, I'm just saying everything about the game feels intentional, good or bad. This is what they wanted to make. I haven't done enough fighting to say if that's clunky but the rest isn't clunky just somewhat counter intuitive - it took me awhile to get used to the controls as they change depending on context but you get used to it quickly enough I felt.

 

And things like seeing all the old "key" items that you've gained from the previous two games already in your inventory (with their descriptions) brought back a lot of memories. You really feel like it's been a long time. I dunno what to say - this is the game I always expected to get. Trailers and all seemed to indicate this would be the game to me. This is a game that I never thought would even happen, and now it's before my eyes. This game, by all rights, shouldn't exist. Now whether Suzuki made the right call we'll see - it all depends on how those 70,000 backers feel about the game ultimately (and the larger audience, but this game seems to intentionally alienate anyone who isn't already a Shenmue fan). That's something in itself after 18 years. Try to also enjoy that fact, but I agree the game is antiquated, no doubt.

[noey jerd]

Maybe I will try it again.. Meh. 

I get it is intentional but I really wish they didn't go that route. I wanted to see this game fully upgraded to today's standards. I guess I am just bitter that isn't what we got. Also, maybe I'm not that big of a Shenmue fan than I thought. Glad someone is having fun with it though!

[Greatoneshere]

52 minutes ago, noey jerd said:

Maybe I will try it again.. Meh. 

I get it is intentional but I really wish they didn't go that route. I wanted to see this game fully upgraded to today's standards. I guess I am just bitter that isn't what we got. Also, maybe I'm not that big of a Shenmue fan than I thought. Glad someone is having fun with it though!

 

Hey, I'm with you - but Shenmue will Shenmue, ya know? It's a cheesy 1980's old school martial arts Hong Kong flick and traditional Chinese flick rolled into one, with the cheese intentionally being there. 

 

I'm sure everyone wanted Yakuza 6 or Horizon Zero Dawn or RDR2 but none of the trailers or images indicated that, but instead something intentionally anachronistic instead, with weird art and character design aesthetics, stilted dialogue interactions, etc. Hell, you can still inspect every item in your inventory, change all your clothes, open every drawer, and really customize your fighting system (as always, it's somewhat Virtua Fighter-y). Everyone's still hilariously unfriendly, etc. It helps that the music is genuinely great too. That's Shenmue! I dunno haha. Everyone should set their expectations accordingly but there is a lot to enjoy I think if you click into its weirdness and earnestness.  

 

Edit: what's even better is the game has still also kept Ryo's funny inner thoughts when he opens drawers and inspects objects (fully voice acted) and there are quality of life improvements like instant teleportation to the time and location (if you want to skip right to it) of the next objective, you can save anywhere, and when you go into first-person view when in "exploration" mode controls every object you can interact with is nicely highlighted and thus you know which objects you can't interact with as well, making checking everything out easier at least. The game feels pretty large, I feel like I haven't scratched the surface much at all yet.

[Xbob42]

As a fan of Shenmue 1 (or fan-at-the-time, haven't played it since launch, and never got to 2) I am severely against the idea of the game being super dated intentionally. At launch, Shenmue was the most expensive and visually impressive/interactive game ever made. Its insane budget and tech were a huge draw and allowed them to create such a unique game. It wasn't very fun a lot of the time, but it was engrossing. As a Shenmue fan, the last thing I want is a hokey relic of a bygone era, I want this guy pushing limits like he used to. I get it - there wasn't the budget for that, but barring that, at least take the time to update the parts of the game that were actively unfun, being boring doesn't have to be a core of Shenmue's DNA for all eternity just because fans can't envision the game being a little more exciting. Take a couple bits from Yakuza as Yakuza took a few bits from Shenmue.

[Greatoneshere]

3 hours ago, Xbob42 said:

As a fan of Shenmue 1 (or fan-at-the-time, haven't played it since launch, and never got to 2) I am severely against the idea of the game being super dated intentionally. At launch, Shenmue was the most expensive and visually impressive/interactive game ever made. Its insane budget and tech were a huge draw and allowed them to create such a unique game. It wasn't very fun a lot of the time, but it was engrossing. As a Shenmue fan, the last thing I want is a hokey relic of a bygone era, I want this guy pushing limits like he used to. I get it - there wasn't the budget for that, but barring that, at least take the time to update the parts of the game that were actively unfun, being boring doesn't have to be a core of Shenmue's DNA for all eternity just because fans can't envision the game being a little more exciting. Take a couple bits from Yakuza as Yakuza took a few bits from Shenmue.

 

It's not dated in terms of graphics or look (it just has a unique and specific aesthetic) but it is otherwise Shenmue (it's often quite pretty). It controls and plays like a modern game, but it is slow and the "boring" and "unfun" parts remain, but a lot of those parts are also what made Shenmue Shenmue.

 

I'd say if someone were curious to rent or somehow try the game for 5 hours that'd be enough to know. But you'll know in the first 3 hours whether you are with the game or not. Me saying it's super dated intentionally isn't per se to mean the gameplay is from 2002 but that the storytelling, dialogue, etc. all are. The gameplay is an extension of Shenmue I and II, evolving from that without really caring where the genre went while it's been away. It's hard to explain honestly, but if nothing else, the game feels distinctly Shenmue is what I mean.

 

Edit: To be clear, yes, the game isn't for everyone. But it is for a certain someones, and they will probably love it. 

[noey jerd]

I'll reinstall and try again  :P

 

This time with ENGLISH OFF !

[Greatoneshere]

10 minutes ago, noey jerd said:

I'll reinstall and try again  :P

 

This time with ENGLISH OFF !

 

It definitely helps! And try to get at least 5 hours in. Exploration mode really starts to open up and once you start learning the fighting mechanics and the herb and skill set systems things get more fun. 

[Xbob42]

If you wanna talk about Shenmue being Shenmue, then you leave those stilted English voices on you ungrateful FUCKS. "Have you seen any sailors?" is part of our gaming lexicon, not "Sen'in o mita koto ga arimasu ka?"

[Keyser_Soze]

6 hours ago, Greatoneshere said:

With all that being said, you have to go in knowing the game is intentionally stilted, oftentimes goofy, but always very earnest and authentic. The game isn't some triple AAA blockbuster and so this isn't some open world game at the level of Yakuza 6 or Horizon Zero Dawn. It is, boiled down, a very well funded indie open world Kickstarted game. It was funded by 70,000 individual backers who provided $6.3 million dollars to create the game (with some help from Sony and publisher Deep Silver). Go in knowing it is an INDIE open world game and all that that entails, limitations and all. Regardless, the game is quite pretty despite it's strange graphical aesthetic and once you click into it's weirdness I'm fairly impressed given the game's origins (I'm playing on PC).

 

And also funded by Epic!

[Keyser_Soze]

6 hours ago, Greatoneshere said:

IMPORTANT NOTE: Play this in Japanese - it will help enormously with dialing down the feeling of stiltedness of the dialogue (and the game in general) and further help with immersion as this is a very Japanese/Chinese culture focused game. DO NOT PLAY IT IN ENGLISH. It's still stilted, but better.

 

Wrong: Play it in English because if you've played the original game that's the voices you're used to. Terrible voices.

[Greatoneshere]

1 minute ago, Keyser_Soze said:

 

Wrong: Play it in English because if you've played the original game that's the voices you're used to. Terrible voices.

 

The only returning voice I believe is Corey Marshall as Ryo Hazuki. Everyone else is new, it's just Yu Suzuki's formal dialogue doesn't work as well in English as it does in Japanese, hence the stiltedness. It's very formal, especially how Ryo speaks. 

[Xbob42]

1 minute ago, Greatoneshere said:

 

The only returning voice I believe is Corey Marshall as Ryo Hazuki. Everyone else is new, it's just Yu Suzuki's formal dialogue doesn't work as well in English as it does in Japanese, hence the stiltedness. It's very formal, especially how Ryo speaks. 

Can we get a second Kickstarter so they can hire a localization team that understands how to translate things in a way that makes sense for a given language?

[Greatoneshere]

Just now, Xbob42 said:

Can we get a second Kickstarter so they can hire a localization team that understands how to translate things in a way that makes sense for a given language?

 

That'd be nice, instead it just felt like they intentionally emulated Shenmue I and II. The Japanese voice acting at least tries. I mean, the acting is fine, it's the translation that's bad. Yeah, that should have been worked on.

[noey jerd]

"Have you seen Yuan" is going to be etched in my nightmares. 

[fuckle85]

I loved Shenmue 1 and 2 back in the day but I'd be lying if I said I felt much nostalgia for revisiting them as anything except something to make fun of during a buddy playthrough.   That said I still want 3 to do well so Yu can against all odds complete the saga.  They said if 3 sells well it will be easier to do more...which kinda makes the release date being so close to the new Kojima and Star Wars games seem a kinda bold I would think lol

[Keyser_Soze]

The only way to play?

 

 

[Keyser_Soze]

 

[Kal-El814]

As it has been for 18 years, as it will be forever... friends don’t let friends play Shenmue.

[Greatoneshere]

Eurogamer loved it: https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2019-11-20-shenmue-3-review-a-faithful-follow-up-to-an-all-time-classic

 

No surprise it echoes many of my own earlier sentiments, for those who think I was just talking out of my ass. "Pseudo-real Animal Crossing" is very on point.

 

@SFLUFAN can we get the aggregate review post once more reviews come out? 

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

Sure thing!

[Greatoneshere]

4 minutes ago, SFLUFAN said:

Sure thing!

 

Really appreciate that, in some ways it's crazy this game is even out heh. 

[Keyser_Soze]

51 minutes ago, Greatoneshere said:

 

Really appreciate that, in some ways it's crazy this game is even out heh.